


on another level

by rainbowrabblerouser



Series: written because I'm lonely, melancholic, gay, yearning, aching, and pining and– [11]
Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), Star Trek: The Original Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bones is a little bit older than them, Bones was Jim's babysitter, Fluff, Getting Together, Humor, Jim and Spock are in high school, M/M, Now they're all best friends!, Prom, Spock is Still Vulcan, They live in the suburbs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-16
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:53:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24219928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rainbowrabblerouser/pseuds/rainbowrabblerouser
Summary: Bones returns back to home and meets up with his best friends, Jim, the kid he used to babysit, and Spock, the kid who Jim used to invite over. When Spock has trouble with his promposal, Bones helps him win Jim over.
Relationships: James T. Kirk & Leonard "Bones" McCoy & Spock, James T. Kirk/Spock
Series: written because I'm lonely, melancholic, gay, yearning, aching, and pining and– [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1712041
Comments: 5
Kudos: 96





	on another level

**Author's Note:**

> title from "E.T." - Katy Perry
> 
> based on this post:
> 
> https://rainbowrabblerouser.tumblr.com/post/618285980560015360#notes

Bones was a little late. He was supposed to meet up with Kirk and Spock an hour ago, but his job had called him for an emergency. They’d understand, right? Well, Spock would since he has some sense of rationale. Kirk would just pull a Jim and flip out over something stupid and then Spock would calm him down.

  
  


When he finally gets to the diner, Bones parks his bike and runs a hand through his hair. It was a damn mess because of how much he had been running around the hospital. Being a pre-med student kind of sucked if you were doing hours in the busiest hospital in the city. But he had to do it. His scholarship depended on it. 

He spots his friends in a booth in the corner. Their favorite spot. Bones’ mind draws back to years ago– when he was just Jim’s babysitter because his mother didn’t trust him to be alone without burning the house down. And Spock had been the friend he’d sneak into the house as soon as his mom left. Because of course, little Jim T. Kirk had a crush on the Vulcan boy who lived down the street. 

That left Bones the responsibility of double the number of kids he had been expecting and was paid for, but he was surprised to learn that Spock acted more like a well-behaved cat rather than a rambunctious teenager like Jim.

Now, the two were high school seniors and Bones was still taking care of them like they were still dumb kids who wanted to wreak havoc on the neighborhood and piss off old homophobic racist xenophobes who would melt like the Wicked Witch of the West if Jim and Spock kissed in front of them.

“Well, well, well, look who decided to show up,” Jim drawled like a child.

Spock looked up and let go of Jim’s hand, looking scandalized even though he was the one who had been caught practically making out with his boyfriend in public.

“Was there trouble in the hospital, Leonard?” Spock asked politely. He still called him that even though Jim had eliminated Bones’ actual name from his vocabulary and exclusively called him by the silly nickname he gave him when he was twelve because he caught him doing his homework for HOSA that one time. 

“Unfortunately,” Bones said as he slammed his pager down onto the table. 

He asks the waiter for a drink and then sighs as he relaxes into his seat.

“You kids foolin’ ‘round again?” Bones asked as he stole some fries from their plate.

Jim giggled as Spock blushed a little green. That was a good enough answer.

“Don’t tell me you guys were protesting in front of town hall again,” Bones rubbed the bridge of his nose and shook his head. God, what did they do this time?

Jim whistled. “Of course, we were. They were going to shut down Sulu’s plant nursery and Chekov had already made signs for us to use!”

Spock added, “Scott also brought us devices to amplify our voices.”

“Considering that y’all are making out here, I assume you outran the cops?”

He looked up to see Jim beaming with his arm around Spock’s shoulders. “Uhura drove by and gave us a lift away from them! She’s a wonderful get-away driver!”

Bones groaned. Usually, this was the part where he had to call Jim’s mother to explain what happened and why, but then again, he didn’t want to ruin a lovely woman and a sweet friend’s day so he just took a sip from his drink and sighed.

“Kid, you are one hell of a migraine-generator,” Bones spits out with no venom.

“Yeah, but you all still love me,” Jim flashes Spock a smirk and then sticks his tongue out at Bones like he was still twelve years old.

Spock mutters, “He is correct.”

Bone rolls his eyes and takes out his wallet. He’d tip the waitress extra since these two had likely overstayed their welcome in the diner. Also, he was a good person who understood what it was like to work somewhere where people were annoying. (He used to work in the movie theatre as a teen with Jim and Spock; it was a nightmare.)

After Bones finishes his drink, they head out. 

Jim had gotten them free tickets to a movie, some stupid sci-fi action flick he’d probably fall asleep halfway in, while Jim would get scared by any jumpscare as an excuse to hold onto Spock. The worst part is that Spock thought that he was actually scared.

“Can you at least get us the good popcorn?” Bones asked when they entered the theatre. It was empty so they could talk throughout the whole film.

“Fine,” Jim lets go of Spock’s hand and heads out into the lobby. 

“So. Have you guys already coordinated outfits for the prom?” Bones teases at an attempt to rile Spock up because it was fun and he had had a long day.

Spock flushes and looks down. “No. Jim hasn’t asked me.”

“What the fuck?!” Bones yells. Spock is unfazed; he was used to loudness because of Jim. There wasn’t much that got Spock to jump or get scared. “Why not?”

“Well, I don’t think you’ve noticed, but Jim does not realize that we have never actually declared that we were officially dating. So I am unsure of the nature of our relationship. And he–”

“Is an idiot. I know. Now, what the hell has he been doing, Spock?”

“Sneaking into my room sometimes. Throwing rocks at the window. There was that one time he accidentally hit my father with a rock…”

Bones snorted at the thought of Sarek getting a big one to his face. Must have left a mark since Jim had a good throw for a theatre kid. He wished he could have seen it. He must have been on campus when this happened. 

Now, he was just back in town since his semester ended before the high schoolers’ did and he promised to return as soon as he could. Jim would lose it if he didn’t.

“So...that means that you have to be the one to make a move, Spock! Why don’t you prompose to him this weekend? You guys still have time!”

Spock blushed even more. “I’m afraid someone had already asked him. I don’t know if he turned her down yet. I just know that he was distressed over it.”

Bones raised an eyebrow. “Of course, he turned her down. He wouldn’t want you to go alone. And besides, he definitely only has eyes for you. I don’t think I’ve ever heard him talk more about someone else. Come on, Spock!”

“I wouldn’t know what to do. I’ve never asked someone out before, Leonard.”

“Then, I’ll help you. We can figure something out.”

When Jim returns, he’s got a whole bag full of snacks. Three boxes of popcorn. Three Icees. And a ton of Dibs. The special kind that he had hidden away.

“What are you two gossipping about?” Jim asked.

“Whatever bullshit you were pulling while I was gone,” Bones snarked. It wasn’t a lie.

“Haha, very funny.”

The movie sucks, but they enjoy making fun of it and laughing at the worst parts. 

They head back to Jim’s house and spend the rest of the night watching videos on the TV and explaining to Bones exactly what he had missed during his time in college.

“Wait a minute. So you all pranked the principal and you didn’t even get it on video? How come Chekov didn’t get a recording?”

“Bones! I already said that he got his phone confiscated by the vice principal because he was making TikToks during the anti-vaping assembly. It was a good TikTok though.”

They watched one of Chekov reacting to the horribly-made PowerPoint slides while Nicki Minaj’s “Roman Holiday” was playing. “Kids vaping and dying:” and the intense bridge part of the song was playing. Then, it cuts to his face while Lana Del Rey’s “Queen of Disaster” plays as the text displays: “The school board thinking that a shitty PowerPoint will prevent deaths:”

Bones chuckled. What the fuck was wrong with the public school system? Apparently a lot. And he definitely did not miss it at all.

“Forward that to me.”

When Jim goes to the bathroom, he tells Spock his idea for how he should ask Jim to prom. It’s really simple, but it was sweet and seemed like something that was doable.

The next day, Bones took his day off from the hospital and went to Spock’s house. His parents were on a business trip, so he sighed in relief because he did not want to deal with Sarek’s disapproving looks. 

“Do you guys ever make a mess?”

“Not allowed.”

Bones takes out a package. 

Glow-in-the-dark stars.

“Now, you’re gonna have to invite him over. Then, take him to your room.”

That night, after Bones prepares Spock and wishes him luck, Spock opens the front door to find Jim there. He gets a hug and kisses all over his face as if Jim hadn’t seen him in a long time even though he had spent the night yesterday and left in the morning for work. 

“Jim, let’s go to my room.”

Spock takes his hand and leads him there. Then, when they get to the door, Spock pulls Jim in for a kiss, wrapping his arms around him. It’s desperate and a little bit rough, but Jim melts into it. 

“What’s going on, Spock? You never kiss me like that. I mean, I’m not complaining, of course, but why?”

Spock kisses him again, pressing Jim against the door and leaning up against him. 

He opens the door and pulls him in.

It’s dark as they end up on the bed and Jim looks up at Spock as he’s being pushed down onto the mattress. He stares up at Spock and blushes. He had wanted this for a long, long time. It was hotter than he had imagined. 

Spock’s biting his lip and Jim can feel himself getting hard. Fuck.

Then, he looks up to see something glowing.

He’s being kissed over and over and over and all over his neck, then he realizes what’s happening when he figures out that the glowing things are little stars on the ceiling and they’re spelling out a word that had caused him immense dread for the past month.

“PROM?”

When Spock pulls away, Jim caresses his face and presses their foreheads together.

“Yes! Of course, I’ll go to prom with you, Spock!”

They kiss some more. Spock whispers softly, “Does this mean we’re dating?”

“Oh, we can do more than date, Spock.”

Spock pushes him down again and Jim smiles into the next kiss.

A few weeks later, Bones fights the urge to cry when he adjusts Jim’s bowtie. Ugh, they grow up so fast. It felt like just a minute ago, he was telling Jim to get off the neighbors’ trampoline and stop blasting Beastie Boys and Taylor Swift anytime Spock left him on read. And Bones feels a bit of warmth hinted with a little bit of pain in his heart because it felt like the time had slipped through his fingers and soon, he’d be in medical school and he wouldn’t see his best friends for a while.

But Jim smiles and Bones tries to enjoy the moment as he pats his shoulders. Jim pulls him in for a big embrace and Bones curses to himself as the tears spill out. 

“I wish your dad was here to see this,” Winona says as she walks in and takes a photo. She was crying too. But her smile indicated that she was happy to see Jim in his pretty blue suit. It was a beautiful deep blue that seemed elegant yet fun. 

Bones had helped him pick it out and the dark blue complimented Jim’s light blue eyes. It was perfect. Now, all they had to do was get Spock.

The doorbell rings and Spock is there, looking a little bit nervous as he chats with Jim’s mom. She gives him a kiss on the cheek and compliments his timeliness and suit.

Spock’s got a tinted gold ceremonial Vulcan robe. It’s a wonderful number and Bones feels relief as Spock steps in and gives him a knowing smile. Bones used to have trouble getting along with him since Spock hadn’t always been the nicest kid, but now he felt like he was lucky to have a friend who could balance out Jim and make him feel like he wasn’t going crazy whenever something happened to them. Bones pats his shoulder and whispers to him.

“Do you have it?” 

He sees Spock take out the boutonnière that Bones had helped him pick out. It was a lovely violet flower with little white flowers that matched the one on Spock’s robe.

Jim reveals himself as he steps downstairs for his dramatic entrance– like he was some girl in a teen coming-of-age flick who wanted to present herself like a princess. He did see this happen in Lady Bird (he also cried at the end).

“Spock.”

“Jim.”

Bones and Winona head to the kitchen to leave them alone.

They reach each other as they see Bones follow her and they’re out of earshot.

“You look amazing.”

“As do you. Here, hold still.” And Spock pins the flowers on and then kisses him.

Bones takes a sip from the coffee Jim’s mother offers him and wipes his eyes. 

“How is college, Leonard?”

“It’s all right. Just not as excited as this. I missed you all. And I’m glad to be here.”

After they take pictures, Bones envelops the boys in a hug.

“I love you both so much.”

“We know,” they say.

Bones waves as they drive away and he sighs.

“Thanks for hiring me as your babysitter all those years ago. It was the best thing to ever happen to me.”

Later that night, Bones gets a text. It’s a photo of Jim and Spock with Scotty, Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov. 

He smiles and sleeps knowing that he had done a good job. 

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: @rainbowrabblerouser
> 
> wrote this and then realized that I'll never get to go to my prom because of corona. also, it would have been on the day I wrote this....


End file.
